Abstract

Up to day, drip irrigation systems have reached to a high level of technology. But, these systems are not able to show
their potential benefits, due to various reasons. Emitter clogging can affect distribution uniformity and the system
performance, which has direct relationship with water quality. In this study five types of emitters with different nominal
discharges, with or without self-flushing system and with or without pressure compensating system were evaluated
under three management schemes; untreated well water (S1), acidic treated water (S2) and magnetic treated water (S3)
in order to reduce chemical clogging. Flow reduction rate, statistical uniformity coefficient (Uc), emission uniformity
coefficient (Eu) and variation coefficient of emitters’ performance in the field (Vf) were monitored. The emitter
performance indexes (Uc and Eu) decreased during the experiment due to emitter clogging. The Uc and Eu values in
different management schemes confirmed that the acidification has better performance than the magnetic water in order
to control emitter clogging and keep high distribution uniformity. Regarding to Vf values, the priority of untreated and
treated water was as S2>S3>S1 for each emitter.

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